Marathon 7: Northumberland

The longest marathon….ever!!! Over 7 hours of pain to complete this bad boy. Now I’ve mentioned that over a few of the marathons I was unprepared, but you could say that this was from a mental preparation side with getting my head around lots of climbs. This one….I was extremely unprepared on all levels.

Not taking into consideration that you were given a route map, and that I have no sense of direction what so ever, this run was always doomed for failure….or just a very slow completion. Needless to say, sat the night before until about midnight going over the route power point, it felt like I was cramming for an exam, but no I was just trying to learn the route by pictures! I’ve never been one for map reading or navigating myself around places so there was definitely a panic building up.

The actual morning of the race went rather smoothly and probably a bit of wishful thinking and complete denial about what I was about to enter into, I stamped out any nerves, or just blatantly ignored them. The first tell-tale sign of how the day was going to go, began with the race HQ…a teeny tent. Not your usual race HQ in a nice big village hall or hotel, it was clear that this run was for hardy souls. Then there was overcoming my one ultimate fear…squatting. Don’t get me wrong im a lover of the great outdoors etc. however the one thing I’d never been able to get my head around was weeing outdoors. Well with no toilets insight and about 2 litres of water in my system I had to get over that fear pretty quickly.

The race started pretty horrendously. Within the first 3 miles I’d been stung by nettles, thrown up about four times and was right at the back of the pack, not really sure where I was going. And then I met the lovely Maxine! Without a doubt had it not been for Maxine that day I don’t know whether I would have made it to the end, not through physical fitness, but directions! I thought I would be able to wing some of the route but nope, not a sign in site!

Having already mentioned to the great John Bell that he could pick me up at the end and guessed my time at being 5 hours, alarm bells started to ring, after a never ending climb up Cheviot, and a time check that showed we’d been out for about 4 hours and only just hit 13 miles thereabouts, my calculations had been massively wrong and I’d clearly underestimated the challenge that this run was presenting.

Following the lovely Maxine upwards...literally

A very long climb later we got to the top of this bad boy, only 13 miles in!

Officially at the top

 However, sticking with a bit of PMA and having no choice but to trudge on forward I decided to enjoy the rest of the day, resigning myself to the fact that I was going to be out in Northumberland for a rather long time. A few tumbles down some rather steep declines later, and we started to make some progress along some country roads, however we also had the blistering midday heat, and herds of farm animals to compete with.

If we weren't competing with hills, we were competing with this...

But how could you complain with views like this!

The hours passed by and Maxine declared that we were getting closer to being back at Wooler. By this point I was a mess, to put it nicely. It hurt to run, it hurt even more to walk, and we didn’t seem to be getting any nearer to our destination. However when we started getting stung by some familiar looking nettles I knew that we couldn’t be far away.

 

Dragging our sorry arses through the streets of Wooler back to the race HQ I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see a camping chair, and even better was the packet of crisps to satisfy the massive salt cravings I was having.

After 7 and a half hours, 26.2 miles and over 5000ft of climbs through Northumberland, I learnt one lesson that has stuck with me….make sure you check the route before you sign up to an event.

Evidence of a hard days work!

Marathon 6: Lakeland Trails Marathon

The Lakeland Trails Marathon was one of poor weather, exhaustion and complete lack of preparation and knowledge of the course….but one of my favourite runs of the year and I’m rather sad that I won’t be doing it again this year, but maybe next!!

I’d begun to learn that in the marathon world, the route being described as “undulating” means “f*%cking brutal”, so on the Saturday evening when I decided that a bit of pre-race prep, was better late than never. Maybe it should have just been never. Looking at the race registration times on the website, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to do a bit of exploring. Seeing the course map and the words “will you be a survivor” I remember thinking, what do they mean I thought it was only meant to be a little bit hilly. Oh how wrong I was.

Getting to the registration in the morning, I remember looking around Coniston thinking, ah they’re going to make us run around the lake, looking at the “hills” around me thinking, surely they’re not going to make us run up those….wrong again (noticing a bit of a theme yet?) Entering registration was a palaver in itself, due to the extreme weather conditions they had decided there was mandatory kit, which of course I didn’t have. £40 on a waterproof jacket that was so lightweight it felt like it was going to rip just by touching it, later, I was ready to go. Something noticeable was the event memento on display, a t-shirt with the word survivor on the back….what was it about this race I thought it was meant to be relatively easy….

By this point the weather hadn’t eased off like it had said on the news, it had in fact got worse. It was royally pouring it down as I walked to the start line, feet already sopping wet, still struggling with DOMS from the Lancaster marathon the week before….I was officially feeling sorry for myself. The start of the race wasn’t the most inspiring as everyone charged off and we did two laps of a school field, the grass getting nice and churned making for some wonderful slips and slides within the first 3-4 minutes. Eventually we took off and started to explore the trails, slightly undulating and tricky under foot but just as I thought they would be.

And then we started to climb. I’m not talking a little climb, I’m talking a rather beasty climb, that led me to question someone on what the route was meant to be like…”tough there’s over 3000ft of climbs”……we shan’t go into the expletives that came out of my mouth at that point and the chuckles that came from a few fellow runners around me at my lack of knowledge of the course and the pure stupidity of entering a challenging marathon route with no idea of what was to come. The majority of the marathon stayed the same, I latched on to one poor soul who without a doubt was the only thing that helped me complete that run. Helping me back up when I tumbled, coming back for me when I got lost and generally being a very good fellow runner in ensuring I was a survivor, we well and truly bonded.

(Troopers together)

It sounds as if the run was awful, and at times it really was and I wondered what the hell I was doing, but it was also one of the most exciting runs I’ve ever done. Bounding up and down rocky trails that were tricky underfoot, wading around a tarn, running In trails that had become streams because of the rain and seeing some of the best views of the lake district (at the highest points). 

(The part where we had to start wading)

I finished the race battered, bruised, soaking wet and caked in mud, but with the biggest smile on my face, that despite legs that felt like led, and the completely wrong footwear on, I’d been a survivor and completed the Lakeland Trails Marathon Challenge!!!

(Slightly muddy - after being cleaned up)

Marathon 5: Lancaster

One thing I learned with all of my Marathons was that I had a knack for not preparing…

“Lancaster Marathon, oooo that’s near here that will be flat!” ……………wrong!!!!

(Looking very relaxed pre-race...if I only I knew what was to come)

Just under 5 hours later, the finish line saw a very distraught and hobbling Liz practically collapse with exhaustion. Needless to say the Lancaster Marathon not only kicked Windermere’s but also was well on par for kicking Anglesey’s arse when it came to climbs.

(The first climb literally at the start line)

(and then came the rain....)

After the shock of Lancaster I decided to enter all of my future runs with the mentality of “expect the unexpected”, that way I could never be disappointed and would always expect the hardest run so I could tell myself that things could always be worse.

A good drenching of rain at the start was enough to literally dampen my spirits and have me wondering once again, what the hell I was doing, running another 26.2 miles on a Sunday morning, the best bit that defeat me mentally was knowing that the following week at the same time I would be doing it all over again.

Climbs, climbs and more climbs. What I thought was going to be a nice easy flat run was the complete opposite. When I describe climbs I don’t just mean the odd hill here and there, I mean that the course was either up or down. My legs and feet got an absolute battering.

It’s safe to say that at the end of the run, with the last 4 miles taking about an hour and a half due to severe toe cramp, that I needed a good strong drink. Luckily we got a bottle of stout provided by Lancaster Brewery as a memento of the race.

Marathon 4: Brathay Windermere Marathon

I could say that this was one of my favourite marathons, and one of my hardest marathons of the year. At the time it felt like it was!!! Another baking hot day and a lot of sunburn to go with my medal and t-shirt at the end of the run, but a massive sense of achievement!!

(Looking nice and relaxed at the beginning)

The run itself was beautiful, but very challenging; it seemed more challenging at the time, with it being the first hilly run I had done in a long time (if only I knew what my other runs of the year had to come). Taking us away from the hustle and bustle of the touristy spots near Windermere, the scenery was stunning, and despite there being hundreds of runners, it was rather peaceful.

Of all my runs I think this was the least uneventful, with no stories to tell. It was one of those runs that can only be described as being calm in every sense, from start to finish the whole day was lovely and relaxed. Improving on my Marathon of the North time despite the route being more challenging, and my legs stayed in pretty good form the whole way around. Although whoever decided to put the little hill up to the finish line at the end of the run, I have to say is sick!

It's runs like the Brathay Windermere Marathon, where all your training comes together with ease, and you remember why you run. Although as the year went on I would realise that I'm a sucker for punishment and prefer the harder and more eventful runs!!!

(Even though it wasn't the toughest of the year I still worked up a good sweat!)

Marathon 3: Marathon of the North

Writing up the rest of these marathons is going to be rather difficult as they were quite a long time ago!!! However I will do my best.

The marathon of the North was what you could call my comeback marathon, having had to skip both Brighton and Manchester with a bad knee injury that I developed in the CTS Sussex marathon (which I only managed half of). The day in itself was a roaring success and I remember that I had loved every minute, but that’s not to say it wasn’t tough!

Sitting out with an injury can be a big knock for your confidence when it comes to running, always wanting to jump back in and carry on with where you left off but never wanting to push too hard and aggravate the injury you’ve just recovered from…so what do you do having not run more than 6-8 miles in 8 weeks….of course you blow all the rules out of the water and go and run 26.2 miles.

The atmosphere of the day was amazing and one of the reasons why I love running, everyone coming together with one thing in mind, complete 26.2 miles and get the medal! All the training (or not in my case), is a common denominator of big events and is quite magical, people from all different walks of life, different careers, different life challenges, different shoe preferences, running clothes, friendship groups, all coming together having gone through a few months of training, pushing themselves through similar physical and mental barriers, leading to that one day…four or five hours of running.

The marathon of the north had beautiful weather – possibly a bit too beautiful, with some lovely sunburn to show for my 5 hours in the baking weather, battling with one of the hardest things whilst running … hydration!!! Always one for battling through, and the support of my two fellow runners, one being the absolute trooper Andy Lee helping to get me round my comeback marathon.

It was never going to be about speed, the main aim was to complete the distance and complete it I did, however there was always one goal in mind….to not let the man with the giant cross on his back beat us…

(Always time to pose for a photo)

Crossing the line was…painful and I have to say the shuffle to the metro was fun, blisters galore and the threat of cramp being there with any sudden movement, but the sense of achievement that despite almost 2 months of no running I had still completed a marathon, you couldn’t top it. 

(We did it!!!)

The highlight of the day….having a lovely chat with some old Geordie’s on the metro post match, one of which told me he could have walked the Marathon faster than I ran it…cheeky sod!!!